Titans 32 Leeds Tykes 26

Rotherham Titans put in an outstanding performance to beat league leaders Leeds Tykes 32-26 in a pulsating encounter on a bright, but gusty afternoon at Clifton Lane.

Titans outscored their West Yorkshire rivals by five tries to four with Jack Taylor and John Okafor bagging a brace each with Harry Dunne grabbing the fifth; Lloyd Hayes added 7 points form the tee.

The result leaves Rotherham 2 points behind Leeds at the top with 3 games remaining and everything is up for grabs in terms of promotion; it’s likely the final outcome won’t be settled until the last game of the season.

The match itself demonstrated a high standard of skill in difficult conditions and was indeed a credit to National League Rugby.

It was Rotherham that came out of the blocks quickest and inside 8 minutes found themselves 10-0 up following a Lloyd Hayes penalty and a converted try from winger Jack Taylor. The latter showed good pace and desire to chase down a clearance kick to dot down in front of a packed clubhouse.

Midway through the half Leeds narrowed the gap when winger Ben Turpin scored a fine solo try when he chased his own kick to score in the corner,

Although Rotherham held the advantage on the scoreboard it was the visitors who held sway in terms of territory and possession. Indeed the hosts had to graft hard on numerous occasions to keep the leaders out.

That graft was rewarded when late on in the first half Rotherham scored two quick-fire tries.

Firstly a lovely break from Lloyd Hayes on halfway saw him feed John Okafor who went in from just outside the 22. Then centre Harry Dunne was on hand to pick up from the base of a ruck to dive over.

With the last kick of the half Lloyd Hayes missed a difficult penalty effort, but Rotherham went in leading 22-5.

The second half was always going to be a testing one for Rotherham as they had the stiff wind in their faces.

The test became even more challenging when in the space of two minutes Titans lost Jack Bergmanas and Zak Poole to the sin bin.

Whilst down to 13 players Leeds unsurprisingly took advantage and grabbed their second try through flanker Jonny Teague following a period of possession inside the Titans 22.

However, once Rotherham returned to a full complement of players on the pitch they quickly added to their tally and secured the bonus point. This came on 66 minutes when a lovely miss-pass from JB Bruzulier found Jack Taylor on the right wing to dive over in the corner to make it 27-12.

Leeds are not top of the table and unbeaten coming into this game for no reason. Inside the final 8 minutes they threw caution to the wind in pursuit of a bonus point.

Their ambition was rewarded with two tries from Pete Lucock and a scintillating one from full back Kieran Davies who finished off a lovely break which started from inside the Leeds 22.

Any nerves Rotherham had were quickly dispelled when late on John Okafor picked up a loose ball inside the Rotherham half and proceeded to gallop home from around 60 metres to secure a memorable victory.

Reflecting after the match Titans Harvey Biljon said:

“I think what stands out the most is the character and heart that Rotherham showed today.

“There was some real adversity through the game; we were down to 13 players at one stage, but the way the players kept on getting off the floor for each other was pretty special.

“The other thing that really stood out for me is if you go back to when we played Leeds earlier in the season, we are a much better team than we were then.

“I think that came through today because Leeds is a team that is in form and you can see the skill they have and the style of rugby they play is pretty attractive; we needed to dig deep and the lads delivered.

“Not everything went our way and you have to give them credit around their set piece, their maul and scrum was functioning and it took us time to get rewarded in those areas and build ourselves into the game.

“There was numerous defensive sets that we had to deal with and the players were outstanding in those moments and that went a long way to earning us our victory.

“I have to make mention of the unbelievable support we had today. Since I’ve been here I’ve seen the crowds growing, I’ve seen how vocal they are and how they get behind everyone and today they were outstanding again; let’s hope they keep coming.”

Referee: Ben Simpson

Yellow Card: Cowen-Leak, Bergmanas, Poole (Titans), Brady (Leeds)

Titans: Taylor (2T), Okafor (2T), Dunne (T), Hayes (2C, P),

Leeds Tykes: Turpin (T), Teague (T), Lucock (T), Davies (T), Irvine (3C)

Titans: 15 Jack Townend, 14 Tomasi Tanumi, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Jack Taylor, 10 Will Milner, 9 JB Bruzulier, 1 Charlie Capps (Kivalu 56), 2 Jack Bergmanas, 3 Gareth Denman, 4 Zak Poole (Capt.), 5 Matt Smith (Cowen-Leak 61) (Bustin 67), 19 John Okafor, 7 Laurence Cowen-Leak (Newborn 52), 8 Callum Bustin (Ward 56).

Replacements: 25 Harry Newborn, 17 Loma Kivalu, 30 Reece Ward, 16 Rupert Kay, 20 Will Metcalfe. 

Leeds Tykes: 15 Kieran Davies, 14 Callum Irvine, 13 Ben Dixon (Venables 51), 12 Tom Williams (Dixon 61), 11 Ben Turpin, 20 Pete Lucock, 9 Will Hardwick (Macnab 59), 1 Toby Williams, 2 Adam Brown (Capt.), 3 Will Dennis, 4 Jake Brady, 5 Tom Collins, 6 Junior Nu’u (Ademakin 51) (Nu’u 61), 7 Jonny Teague, 8 Eddie Brown.  

Replacements: 16 Aarin Yorke, 17 Alex Fishwick, 18 Tobi Ademakin, 19 Charlie Venables, 10 Henry Macnab.  

Photo Credit: Gareth Siddons

Hull 29 Titans 47

Rotherham Titans continued their impressive form with a deserved 47-29 win over an accomplished Hull side, on a bright afternoon at the Ferens Ground.

Rotherham outscored their hosts by 7 tries to 4 with the dot downs coming via a brace from winger Jack Taylor and one each for JB Bruzulier, Harry Dunne, Loma Kivalu, Marcus Payne and Will Milner, with the latter also impressing with the boot as he added a further 12 points from the tee.

The victory was Titans eleventh on the trot and now all eyes will be on next week’s game at Clifton Lane where the visitors will be league leaders Leeds Tykes.

Hopefully a bumper crowd will turn out for what is expected to be a thriller between the best two sides in the division.

This game was also a thriller and a great advert for National 2 rugby as both sides showed brutal physicality with good pace and skill across the backline as 76 points were scored including 11 tries.

Despite the high score we had to wait until the fifteenth minute before the scoreboard operator had to put his cup of tea down.

When it arrived however it was for Rotherham when scrum half JB Bruzulier showed good awareness and strength to burrow over after picking up close to the line. Will Milner on kicking duty for the injured Lloyd Hayes knocked over the extras.

Titans knew Hull were a good side and they showed this with some slick play through their backs following some powerful work from the pack which kept the Titans honest in defence.

However that defence was breached shortly after when winger Duell Trueman dotted down for full back Reece Dean to convert and level matters. The latter nudged his side ahead a few moments later with a penalty.

Back came Rotherham though and they retook the lead when winger Jack Taylor nipped in to score a fine try after receiving a neat pass from John Okafor out wide on the right. Milner tagged over from near the posts.

Hull were to have the final say of the half however when number 8 Paulos Latu broke through and made significant ground before popping a pass to Tom Bairstow who charged in to score. Dean’s conversion made it 17-14 at the break.

As has often been the case this season Rotherham have shown their best work in the second half of games and they did so again here.

Inside the opening 20 minutes of the restart they scored 4 tries, 3 of which were converted to effectively wrap up the game.

Firstly Will Milner scored near the corner after some great work in the build up from prop forwards Charlie Capps and Gareth Denman.

Then centre Harry Dunne was on hand to barge over following a period of forward pressure.

And talking of barging over, no one does it better than loose head prop Loma Kivalu and he was on hand to grab the next score.

The four-try blitz was concluded when Jack Taylor grabbed his second when squeezing over in the corner after the ball was spread quickly across the park to create the opportunity.

Rotherham had to wait another ten minutes before adding a seventh try of the game.

This came when skipper Zak Poole ripped possession away and found John Okafor; the big man slipped a delicate inside pass to Marcus Payne who showed good pace from outside the 22 to dart over. Milner’s conversion made it 47-17.

With the job done Rotherham eased the pressure on the accelerator pedal and to Hull’s credit they never stopped battling. Their endeavours were rewarded inside the final 7 minutes when they scored two late tries through James Naylor and Josh Papa to secure a deserved bonus point.

Nevertheless, for Rotherham to score nearly 50 points away from home against a good side like Hull has to be pleasing.

Titans will now switch their focus and preparations for what is set to be a titanic tussle on Saturday, when table-toppers and free-scoring Leeds arrive at Clifton Lane.

Reflecting after the match Titans Harvey Biljon said:

“I’ve got to be honest, I think Hull showed some real physicality in the first half and although we matched that I think they deserved their scores.

“In the second half I thought we changed gear which was nice to see and we had a little bit more control and success which was good.

“However, we are still endeavouring to stay focused for the full 80 minutes and that’s where you have to give Hull credit because they never gave up and they deserved their bonus point.

“What we need to do now is keep our feet on the ground because that’s what we’ve been doing since we came in.

This game coming up on Saturday has almost crept up on us rather than us going to look for it and that’s what’s so exciting about it because we’ll continue trying to do what Rotherham Titans have been doing.”

Referee: Michael Harris

Attendance: 325

Yellow Card: None

Titans: Taylor (2T), Bruzulier (T), Dunne (T), Kivalu (T), Payne (T), Milner (6C)

Hull:  Shaul (T), Bairstow (T), J. Naylor (T), Papa (T), Dean (3C, P)

Titans: 15 Jack Townend, 14 Jack Taylor, 13 Tomasi Tanumi, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Cuchulain Livingstone (Metcalfe 35), 10 Will Milner, 9 JB Bruzulier, 1 Charlie Capps (Kivalu 52), 2 Jack Bergmanas, 3 Gareth Denman (Ward 59), 4 Zak Poole (Capt.), 5 Matt Smith (Kay 59), 19 John Okafor, 7 Laurence Cowen-Leak (Payne 69), 8 Callum Bustin.

Replacements: 16 Rupert Kay, 17 Loma Kivalu, 30 Reece Ward, 23 Marcus Payne, 20 Will Metcalfe. 

Hull: 15 Reece Dean, 14 Duell Trueman, 13 Alex Heard (Capt.), 12 Bureta Faraimo (Dawkins 72), 11 Jamie Shaul (Keane Naylor 56), 10 Harrison Astley, 9 Harvey Harding (Papa 59), 1 Jamie Major (Beech 41), 2 Mike Jobling, 3 Tomas Bairstow (Major 72), 4 Latu Makaafi (James Naylor 41), 5 Alec Renouf, 6 Evi Uriburu-Gray, 7 Will Hall 8 Paulos Latu.

Replacements: 16 Charlie Beech, 17 Josh Papa, 18 James Naylor, 19 Harry Dawkins, 20 Keane Naylor.

Titans 42 Hull Ionians 17

Rotherham Titans maintained their interest at the top end of the division by beating a good Hull Ionians side 42-17 on a cool afternoon at Clifton Lane.

Rotherham outscored their opponents by 6 tries to two with Loma Kivalu grabbing a brace and one each for John Okafor, Charlie Capps, Jack Townend and Callum Bustin, with Lloyd Hayes adding 10 points from the tee and Will Milner knocking over a late conversion.

Despite the healthy winning margin Rotherham were made to work hard for their victory, especially in the first half where the visitors made life difficult for the home side.

Indeed, Ionians took the lead after just 5 minutes when hooker Sam Edwards dotted down from the tail of a maul. Lewis Minikin added the extras and then stretched his side’s advantage to 10-0 with a penalty on 25 minutes.

Rotherham struggled to make inroads as a combination of too many penalties and poor accuracy cost them vital field position.

However, they did eventually get on the board late in the first half when second rower John Okafor showed good strength and desire to get over after picking up from the base of a ruck. Lloyd Hayes converted to narrow the deficit.

With the momentum now shifting to Rotherham they took the lead in injury time when loose head prop Charlie Capps powered over next to the posts. Hayes converted with the final kick of the half to send his side in 14-10 ahead.

The second half continued as the first had ended with the home side in control; and whilst it took a little time for the next score to arrive, when it did we saw 3 tries in an 8-minute spell which effectively wrapped up the game.

Firstly Rotherham full back and former Ionians player Jack Townend cut back inside after collecting a pass from Zak Poole to score.

Then front row replacement Loma Kivalu dotted down after scrum half JB Bruzulier slipped him a nice pass, after earlier good work from Harry Dunne who made some important yards.

And finally Callum Bustin broke off a driving maul close to the line to score near the corner. Hayes superbly converted all three scores.

As the game entered the final 10 minutes and to the credit of Ionians for their willingness to keep on battling, replacement hooker Ally Forth dotted down from the tail of a maul for Minikin to convert.

However the final score of the game saw Titans Loma Kivalu get his second try, when he grabbed the ball from the base of a ruck to dive over and place the cherry on the top of an impressive performance for Rotherham. Will Milner converted.

The South Yorkshire side can be pleased with their efforts against a very decent Ionians team, but will now switch focus to the next challenge which arrives on Saturday with a visit to the Ferens Ground to take on Hull.

Following the match Titans Harvey Biljon said:

“I don’t know how Ionians are where they are in the league because they look an organised outfit and they made us work for it.

“For whatever reason it took us time to get into our rhythm and into our stride, but what we spoke about at the beginning of the week and before the game was to just stay on task and back up moments in the game.

“When the sun came out we almost thought we could just play and play; we had to remind ourselves that if we keep possession we will get our reward.

“We did well at the back end of the first half and then it was just waiting for our moments and I think they showed why they are making the improvements they are. They looked a team that was composed, they showed control and they took scores.

“The final score was I thought a pretty fair reflection of the game.”

Referee: Peter Connor

Attendance: 250

Yellow Card: None

Titans: Kivalu (2T), Okafor (T), Capps (T), Townend (T), Bustin (T), Hayes (5C), Milner (1C)

Hull Ionians:  Edwards (T), Forth (T), Minikin (2C, P)

Titans: 15 Jack Townend, 14 Tomasi Tanumi, 13 Lloyd Hayes (Finn 64), 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Cuchulain Livingstone, 10 Will Milner, 9 JB Bruzulier (Metcalfe 64), 1 Charlie Capps (Kivalu 57), 2 Jack Bergmanas (Denman 77), 30 Reece Ward (Denman 23) (Ward 59), 4 Zak Poole (Capt.), 19 John Okafor, 6 Laurence Cowen-Leak (Allan 1) (Cowen-Leak 45), 26 Rupert Kay, 8 Callum Bustin.

Replacements: 16 Lewis Allan, 17 Loma Kivalu, 3 Gareth Denman, 22 Tainne Finn, 20 Will Metcalfe. 

Hull Ionians: 15 Lewis Minikin, 14 Sam Wilson, 13 Will Yates, 12 Josh Britton (Celella 75), 11 Alfie Celella (Stowe 64), 10 Charlie Kirk (Hassard 64), 9 Sam Pocklington, 1 Calvin Mitchell, 2 Sam Edwards (Forth 52), 3 Euan Walker (Morton 40), 4 Joe Makin (Hellas 45), 5 Frankie Gascoigne, 6 Lucas Powell, 7 James Sanderson (Capt.), 8 Callum Sanderson. 

Replacements: 16 Chris Morton, 18 Ally Forth, 21 Tyler Hellas, 19 Will Stowe, 20 Sam Hassard.

Huddersfield 12 Titans 31

Rotherham Titans made it nine wins on the spin as they beat a hard-working Huddersfield side 31-12 on a bog of a pitch at Lockwood Park.

Titans secured the bonus-point win with tries from Jack Townend, Harry Newborn, Jack Taylor and Lloyd Hayes, with the latter also adding 11 points from the tee.

The deserved win for Rotherham on a heavy pitch narrowed the gap at the top of the table to Leeds Tykes to 6 points.

The game itself was at times feisty, but in a Yorkshire derby it is to be expected and the home side wanted to give their visitors a warm welcome.

Indeed Huddersfield came out of the traps fired-up and their emotional energy prevailed as they opened the scoring inside 8 minutes, when skipper Ed Barber darted back inside to touch down; although he wasn’t able to convert his try.

Rotherham remained calm however and set about imposing themselves on the game.

Just 3 minutes later Rotherham levelled matters when full back Jack Townend received a long miss-pass from Lloyd Hayes to scoot over in the corner. Hayes’ superb conversion from the touchline gave Roth a lead they would not relinquish.

Hayes was soon back in the thick of it as he extended the lead on 22 minutes, when after a period of forward pressure the ball was spun out through the backs allowing him to cut through to score a converted try.

Before the half hour mark Titans had their third try when from a catch and drive back rower Harry Newborn peeled off from the tail to crash over. Hayes nailed the extras.

Incredibly before the break Rotherham secured the bonus point when a clever chip through from Harry Dunne was collected by winger Jack Taylor to pick up and dive over in the corner. Hayes impressed again with the touchline conversion.

Disappointingly for Rotherham they allowed Huddersfield to score in the final play of the half as replacement forward Lewis Quinn dotted down after a short period of forward pressure; Barber added the extras to end the half.

The second period turned out to be a low-scoring affair with the only points of the half coming two minutes in when Lloyd Hayes knocked over a penalty.

Then despite lots of endeavour from Rotherham and Huddersfield, a combination of a deteriorating pitch and a determined defensive effort from each side, meant the rest of the game would remain scoreless.

Nevertheless, Rotherham would have been delighted to have come away from a filthy day against a tenacious outfit with the full five points.

As always however the focus will switch quickly to the next task in hand; this comes in the shape of Hull Ionians to Clifton Lane this Saturday.

After the match Titans Harvey Biljon commented:

“I think this is a day I will remember; what an experience. To come here and see the conditions, but underpinned by a team that was motivated to play and we wanted to get out there and play too, that will stay with me for a long time.

“After an emotional five minutes from Huddersfield we found our stride and had the bonus point won by half time.

“Clearly the first half cut the pitch up even more and the conditions didn’t get better in the second half.

Although there was probably a couple of opportunities for us to take scores in the second half, I’m happy to come away having not allowed Huddersfield to have scored and for us to have played the game in the right areas of the field, albeit not a pretty game at all.

“We didn’t score as many points in the second half and I think the coaches have to take some ownership.

I’ve spoken with Gaz about it; there were lots of permutations on the field and we lost a bit of our direction, there were lots of changes and we need to make sure as coaches the players know their roles and responsibilities.

“There was lots going on and it was a great experience for me, not only just from the pitch, the conditions, the supporters, the opposition players, but everything and it’s definitely a game I will remember.

“But overall we are pleased to have got the bonus point win, especially with everything that was going off.”

Referee: James O'Brien

Attendance: 223

Yellow Card: Ed Barber (Huddersfield)

Titans: Townend (T), Newborn (T), Taylor (T), Hayes (T, P, 4C)

Huddersfield: Quinn (T), Barber (T, 1C)

Titans: 15 Jack Townend, 14 Jack Taylor, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Harry Dunne (Metcalfe 50), 11 Cuchulain Livingstone, 10 Will Milner, 9 JB Bruzulier, 1 Charlie Capps (Capt.) (Kivalu 50), 2 Jack Bergmanas, 30 Reece Ward (Denman 39), 19 John Okafor, 26 Lewis Allan (Capps 60), 7 Laurence Cowen-Leak (Payne 53), 25 Harry Newborn (Kay 59), 8 Callum Bustin.

Replacements: 16 Rupert Kay, 17 Loma Kivalu, 3 Gareth Denman, 24 Marcus Payne, 20 Will Metcalfe. 

Huddersfield: 15 Lewis Workman, 14 Charlie Foreman, 13 Xander Nash, 12 Liam Parfitt, 11 Fin Stewart (Walker 64), 10 Ed Barber (Capt.), 9 Paul Harrison, 1 Callum Thompson (Neilly 57), 2 Harry Moore (Quinn 15) (Davis 47), 3 Andy Rollins (Sanderson 35), 4 Alex Dawson, 5 Thiu Barnard, 6 Francis Entressengle, 7 Tom Haywood (Rollins 52), 8 Luke Pearson.

Replacements: 16 Lewis Quinn, 17 Loz Sanderson, 20 Josh Walker, 18 Leighton Davis, 21 Darren Neilly.